Ron Paul Original Chocolate Chip Cookies coming out of the oven

Ron Paul Original Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream the following ingredients:
1 cup Crisco
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Dissolve 1 tsp. baking soda in 1 tbsp. hot water and mix with:
2¼ cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1 large bag chocolate chips

Drop by teaspoon on cookie sheet and bake at 350° for 10 minutes.

Adelaide says:

I made the cookies a few nights ago. I didn’t add nuts, and I only put one regular sized bag of chocolate chips (opposed to the large bag it calls for), but they seemed to turn out rather well. The recipe made 4 dozen large cookies, and we ate 2 dozen that night, another dozen yesterday, and I sent the last dozen with Steven to work today. Overall, I think they were a big hit.

Further Reading

• Richd K Miller — Voted for Romney in 2008. In 2012 voting for Ron Paul
• End the Fed
• The Revolution: A Manifesto
• Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom

Photo Credit: Adelaide of Ada Shot Me

Ron Paul Orange Rolls

Adelaide says:

I’ll send orange rolls home with Jill for you to try. I made them last night and refrigerated them overnight so we could have hot rolls for breakfast. I used a cookie sheet instead of a 9×13 pan, and some of them burnt on the bottom (the filling spilled out, which maybe doesn’t happen with the pan?) So I’ll have to try it again using two 9×13 pans to see if they turn out better, but they still tasted great!

You could easily half the recipe for only a dozen rolls. Also a package of active dry yeast is equivalent to 2 tsp (in case you use a jar of yeast, like I do.)

I ate three of the rolls and they were mighty delicious. Adelaide, you should have sent over a whole plateful.

I gave out the recipe for the Banana Nut Bread but this time get the Cookbook and support the Ron Paul Campaign.

Further Reading

• Richd K Miller — Voted for Romney in 2008. In 2012 voting for Ron Paul
• End the Fed
• The Revolution: A Manifesto
• Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom

Photo Credit: Adelaide of Ada Shot Me

Ron Paul Banana Nut Bread

What I did different: I didn’t use nuts, as we didn’t have any pecans, which is what I like using in banana nut bread. Also, I used 2 mini loaf pans instead of a regular sized loaf pan, but still cooked it for 45 minutes.

Ron Paul Banana Nut Bread

½ cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe mashed bananas
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix and bake the ingredients at 350° for 45 minutes.

So how did it taste? Adelaide said:

Oh, and it was really good. We ate one of the loaves yesterday (which is when I baked it) and have devoured most of the second one today.

Further Reading

• Richd K Miller — Voted for Romney in 2008. In 2012 voting for Ron Paul
• End the Fed
• The Revolution: A Manifesto
• Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom

Photo Credit: Adelaide of Ada Shot Me

Father Christmas visiting the grandchildren

Father Christmas came to visit
My grandchildren this year.
But when he loudly Ho Ho Hoed
They refused to go near.

So Father Christmas skillfully
Made candy canes appear.
And with this very tasty treat
He overcame their fear.

Jill holding Bryson and Aurora

Bryson and Santa

Yesterday’s visit to Hogle Zoo with Jill, Adelaide, and my grandchildren found us encountering dinosaurs. Their heads and necks moved and they made noises so as to appear more life-like. The Dilophosaurus even spit water out of its mouth which scared my granddaughter Aurora and quite surprised me just as I was about to take its photograph.

The dinosaurs are presented in alphabetical order. If you click on the photographs, they will either show a larger version of the same photograph or a different shot of the same dinosaur.

Allosaurus

Allosaurus (different lizard) is the state fossil of Utah. The powerful skull of Allosaurus was a perfect meat-eating machine. The jaws were large and massive, with serrated teeth for cutting meat. The skull was composed of separated pieces that could be disjointed allowing him to swallow enormous chunks of meat whole. Allosaurus constantly grew, shed and replaced it teeth, some of which averaged three or four inches in length.

Allosaurus

Dilophosaurus

Dilophosaurus (double-crested lizard) had colorful crests that could have been used to attract mates. In the movie Jurassic Park, Dilophosaurus paralyzed its prey by spitting blinding venom in the eyes. There is no evidence of this but it does make for a good story.

Dilophosaurus with baby. They spit blinding venom in our eyes that felt a little like water.

Kentrosaurus

Kentrosaurus (sharp-point lizard) had plates along the low back tail that most likely served a defensive function. The tail had two pairs of sharp, two-foot spikes that were probably used for lashing out against predators. The plates may have had blood flowing through them to help heat and cool the dinosaur’s body.

Kentrosaurus

Megalosaurus

Megalosaurus (great lizard) had curved teeth with a serrated edge and strong claws on each toe and finger. The curved claws were designed for seizing and holding prey, while the jaws were the main killing tool. Megalosaurus was the first dinosaur to be discovered, in England in 1676.

Megalosaurus

Parasaurolophus

Parasaurolophus (crested lizard) had a hollow head-crest that allowed it to make a sound like a trombone. The noise may have been used to “talk” to the rest of the herd, warning them about approaching predators.

Parasaurolophus

Rhinosaurus

Rhinosaurus (horned nose) is characterized by its large size, an herbivorous diet, large horns, and a thick protective skin. The Rhinosaurus can exceed 7,700 pounds in weight and have a head and body length of 15 feet. They are extremely nearsighted; making the Rhinosaurus dangerous and unpredictable, and likely to charge unfamiliar sounds and smells.

Rhinosaurus. This one looked the most life-like

Styracosaurus

Styracosaurus (spiked lizard) used its horns for defense and could charge like a rhino to protect itself. But because its frill was not solid bone and was easily punctured, some researchers theorize that it may have been able to flush the frill with blood creating eyespots to scare predators away.

Styracosaurus and baby

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus Rex (tyrant lizard king) was one of the largest animal predators. With a 5-foot-long head, 8-inch long teeth and a bite three times stronger than a lion’s, it could eat 200 pounds of meat in one bite. The little arms were extremely strong for holding on to struggling prey. It had a keen sense of smell, bone-crushing bites, and super speed.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Notes and News

• Not shown here but on display at Hogle Zoo: Coelophysis, Suchmimus, and Brachiosaurus.
• Dinosaur details are from onsite information displays.
• At 1 pm we were fortunate to experience first-hand feeding time at the zoo.
• An extensive multi-animal habitat, called Rocky Shores, featuring polar bears, sea lions, seals and brown bears will open in the Spring of 2012.

One of the several rooms with layouts at the Ogden Union Station

The Hostlers Model Railroad Club was founded in February 1988 in Ogden and has now grown to over 180 members.

We headed straight for the model railroad layouts. There was a lot of them to see.

Watching the trains: Bryson, Sarah, Adelaide, Cassandra, Jill, and Aurora

There was even a large Lego Layout

Watching Trains

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Climbing on Trains

At the Union Station are locomotives that were designed to pull large trains over steep Western terrain. The 833 steam engine (at left in the photo below) is a Union Pacific Northern. This 4-8-4 saw both freight and passenger service between Utah and Wyoming. Also featured is a restored Red Cross Hospital Car, Railroad Post Office Car and the 2002 Olympic Winter Games Cauldron Car.

The Ogden railyard has trains that you can climb on

Here is what it looks like on board a steam engine

They'll let anybody drive a train

Riding a Train

It is fun watching the model trains and climbing on some old full-size trains. But there is nothing like a ride in a train.

All aboard the train

Riding in the train even if it is just around in circles

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The Long Train Movie

If you don’t have a movie for the evening then perhaps you could try this video. It doesn’t have much of a plot but there is one exciting part where one of the guard posts is knocked over. You can then watch it being put back in place. This video can also be used in place of a sleeping pill — no prescription needed. They way it works is to count the rail cars instead of sheep.

Sarah, Bryson, and Aurora ready to sled

There was snow on the ground so Adelaide, Sarah, the grandchildren, Jill, and I went sledding. We picked a very small hill for the grandchildren and took our cameras. Click on the images to enlarge. The videos are usually not visible in a feed reader. In the screencap below I have circled a girl in pink at the bottom of the hill. Keep your eye on her when you play the accompanying video of Bryson and I sledding.

Sledding near miss

 
 
Adelaide took the photograph below as we narrowly missed the little girl in pink. You can see how close we came. I still had the camera rolling.

The near miss, taken from a different angle

Aurora in the snow

Bryson with a snowball

Cassandra

Adelaide, Aurora, and Cassandra sledding

Sarah and Bryson sledding

Yesterday Jake and Rachel opened their presents at their Wedding Gift Opening Gathering. It was hosted by Rachel’s mother and family were invited to attend. Jill and I took photographs of Jake and Rachel opening their gifts. Later I emailed the photographs to the givers with a short message. If you are thinking of trying this you could write something like this in your email:

Jake and Rachel received many wedding presents. When they were opened yesterday evening we kept track of who gave what so that we could send to the giver a photograph of the gift being opened. We hope that we matched the right gift with you. Jake and Rachel will be sending a traditional “thank you” presently.

It worked well when I tried this the first time at Steven and Adelaide’s gift gathering. But this time, with four grandchildren adding a significant distraction, our list of gift givers was not very easy to interpret at evening’s end and so far I have only sent out five emails.

From a male perspective the coolest gifts were tools and camping equipment. A local author gave a copy of her book, along with other gifts. Very cool.

Adelaide and Sarah at the wedding gift opening gathering

Of note was a personalized hymn book and a framed copy of The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Jake and Rachel also received a lot of gift cards and cash which will be very helpful indeed.

Money, the ultimate gift card

Thank you to all who gave to help Jake and Rachel start their new life together. Your kindness and generosity was highly appreciated.

This month was Adelaide’s birthday and we celebrated by eating at her parents house. There was a lot of gifts and a few pseudo-presents for Adelaide. For example, Steven gave her a pile of beef jerky. Now really, do we all think that Adelaide wolfs down that much jerky? :)

The signed copy of the book, It’s In The Bag, was from me. Here are a few birthday photographs, click on the images to enlarge. Incidentally, Adelaide has a new hair style. She had a deadline of her birthday to get it cut.

Last Wednesday, along with Adelaide and Jill, I took my three grandchildren to Hogle Zoo. It hasn’t been long since we took Bryson to the zoo. Cassandra, the newborn, slept most of the time but she did wake up near the end. Aurora and Bryson seemed to have fun. There are a lot of new sights and sounds for them to see and hear. Aurora and Bryson got to ride the roundabout, the train, and the lions.

We saw the baby elephant, Zuri, but we didn’t see the zoo’s black bears (Tuff, Cubby, and Dale) because they have been sent to the Oregon Zoo. What we did see was their home being demolished to make way for the new Rocky Shores Exhibit. According to the Deseret News, the new exhibit

will be an extensive multi-animal habitat featuring polar bears, sea lions, seals and possibly other bears. Up-close viewing of the animals as they swim by will be possible through glassed areas, as well as views from ground level in a habitat depicting the physical, cultural and social landscape of the western shores of North America. (“Hogle Zoo send away three bears to make way for construction,” Deseret News, May 2, 2010)

Read Cassandra’s report of the zoo visit in Cassie’s World…It’s a Jungle Out There!